The TU Delft Aerospace Engineering selection is challenging, but not because every question requires extremely advanced mathematics or physics.

The real difficulty comes from a combination of:

• a broad syllabus;

• limited time;

• unfamiliar problem-solving questions;

• First-Year Aerospace material you need to learn independently;

• and the fact that you are competing for a ranking, not simply trying to pass.

If your Mathematics and Physics foundations are already strong, the selection is very manageable with focused preparation. If those foundations are weak, the exam becomes much harder because there is relatively little time to relearn them once the official Aerospace material is released.

Here is what makes each part difficult.

How Difficult Is the Mathematics?

For many applicants, Mathematics is the section where speed matters most.

The expected knowledge is largely pre-university mathematics rather than university-level mathematics. Typical topics include:

• functions and graphs;

• algebra;

• logarithms and exponentials;

• trigonometry;

• vectors;

• differentiation;

• integration;

• geometry.

The concepts themselves may therefore look familiar.

What makes the questions harder is that you need to recognise the required method quickly.

You may understand differentiation perfectly but still lose time if it takes you too long to identify which rule to use, simplify an expression or manipulate an equation.

What should you be able to do?

You should reach the point where common operations are almost automatic:

• rearranging equations;

• differentiating standard functions;

• recognising useful substitutions;

• manipulating trigonometric expressions;

• working with vectors;

• estimating whether an answer is reasonable.

If basic algebra still takes significant effort, fix that before worrying about advanced selection tricks.

How Difficult Is the Physics?

Physics is less about memorising a large number of formulas and more about identifying the correct physical principle.

Typical areas include:

• kinematics;

• Newton’s laws;

• forces;

• work and energy;

• momentum;

• circular motion;

• oscillations and waves;

• electricity;

• magnetism.

A common mistake is searching immediately for an equation containing the variables given in the question.

A better approach is:

Understand the situation → identify the principle → choose the equation → calculate

For example, a problem that looks complicated may become simple once you recognise that energy is conserved.

The mathematics involved is often not particularly advanced. The difficulty lies in knowing what to do.

How Difficult Is the First-Year Aerospace Material?

This section is difficult for a different reason.

TU Delft gives applicants specific material from the Aerospace Engineering first-year curriculum to study before the selection exam.

Recent material has covered areas such as:

• aerodynamics;

• flight mechanics;

• aircraft structures;

• spacecraft and launch vehicles;

• orbital mechanics.

Unlike Mathematics and Physics, the exact First-Year syllabus can change from year to year.

TU Delft may change the chapters, lectures or aerospace topics included in the selection.

That means memorising an old selection syllabus months in advance is not necessarily a good use of your time.

Instead:

Before the new material is released: learn recurring aerospace fundamentals.

After the material is released: prioritise the official syllabus immediately.

At DelftPractice, we use the same approach. We keep the recurring fundamentals available beforehand and update the First-Year preparation when TU Delft publishes the new selection material.

The Bigger Problem: Time

This is where many otherwise strong students struggle.

In the recent 2026 format, the academic selection exam consisted of three timed multiple-choice sections:

Section	Time	Approx. Questions
Mathematics	30 min	20
Physics	30 min	20
First-Year Aerospace	30 min	30

That works out to roughly 90 seconds per question in Mathematics and Physics, and even less for the Aerospace section.

You obviously will not spend exactly 90 seconds on every question, but it illustrates the problem.

A question you can solve in five minutes at home may still be a bad question to spend five minutes on during the selection.

You need to know when to:

• solve immediately;

• estimate;

• eliminate answers;

• skip temporarily;

• return later.

This is why doing only untimed textbook exercises is not enough.

Do You Need to Know Everything?

No.

You need strong coverage of the syllabus, but chasing perfect knowledge is usually less useful than becoming reliable on the fundamentals.

For Mathematics and Physics especially, a student who can solve familiar concepts quickly and accurately can outperform someone who knows more theory but works slowly.

For example, you should immediately recognise relationships such as:

Kinetic energy ∝ velocity²

or

Lift ∝ velocity², assuming the other terms remain constant.

If velocity doubles, the quantity becomes four times larger.

That type of reasoning can answer some multiple-choice questions without a full calculation.

How Much Does the Selection Change Each Year?

Not every part changes equally.

Mathematics: relatively stable

The exact questions change, but the expected mathematical foundation remains broadly similar from year to year. TU Delft’s published selection syllabi base the Mathematics and Physics requirements on Dutch VWO pre-university knowledge.

Physics: relatively stable

The same applies to Physics. The problems change, but the fundamental topics remain reasonably predictable.

First-Year Aerospace: more variable

This is where larger syllabus changes can occur.

The selected chapters and lectures may change each year, which is why TU Delft publishes a separate First-Year syllabus for candidates.

This gives you a fairly simple preparation strategy:

Prepare Math and Physics early.
Prepare Aerospace fundamentals early.
Adapt to the exact First-Year syllabus when it is released.

How Do You Know If You Are Ready?

A useful test is not simply whether you can solve a question.

Ask yourself whether you can:

Mathematics

Solve standard calculus, algebra, trigonometry and vector problems without constantly checking formulas.

Physics

Look at a problem and quickly recognise the physical principle involved.

Aerospace

Explain the concepts rather than only remembering equations.

Timed Practice

Complete mixed questions without your accuracy collapsing under time pressure.

If you understand everything when studying but your timed scores are much worse, you probably do not need significantly more theory.

You need more timed problem-solving practice.

When Should You Start Preparing?

There is no need to wait for TU Delft to release the First-Year material.

Before January

Focus mainly on:

• Mathematics;

• Physics;

• core aerospace concepts.

These are the areas where early preparation actually helps.

Once TU Delft Releases the First-Year Material

Shift more attention toward the exact Aerospace syllabus.

Do not blindly continue preparing old First-Year topics if they are no longer included.

In the Final Weeks

Move increasingly toward:

• mixed questions;

• timed sections;

• mock exams;

• analysing mistakes.

At that stage, repeatedly rereading theory usually gives diminishing returns.

What Is the Best Way to Practise?

A good progression is:

Learn → Topic Practice → Mixed Practice → Timed Practice → Review

When you get something wrong, classify the mistake.

Was it:

• a concept error?

• an algebra mistake?

• a calculation error?

• a unit mistake?

• a question you misread?

• or simply a time-management problem?

This matters because each problem requires a different fix.

Doing another 50 questions will not help much if you never identify why you are getting them wrong.

So, How Hard Is It Really?

The TU Delft Aerospace selection is competitive and time-pressured, but the academic content is something you can prepare for.

You do not need to already be an aerospace engineer.

You do need:

• solid Mathematics and Physics fundamentals;

• the ability to learn new Aerospace material quickly;

• efficient problem-solving;

• and enough timed practice that the exam format does not surprise you.

The biggest advantage you can give yourself is to prepare the stable material early.

Then, when TU Delft releases the new First-Year syllabus, you can focus on learning the Aerospace material instead of simultaneously trying to repair your Mathematics and Physics foundations.

That is the preparation strategy DelftPractice is built around: master the fundamentals first, then practise applying them under realistic selection conditions.